The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals are back in the headlines. This time the animal rights group is after pop star Britney Spears and her use of elephants and lions in her video for her song "Circus". PETA's Press Release Read:

Britney Spears has hit a sour note with PETA over the video for her new single "Circus," which uses cruelly trained lions and elephants even after PETA wrote to her and explained in graphic detail how trainers shock, whip, and beat exotic animals into performing. PETA has just posted an action alert and a special blog post on its popular Web site asking people to contact Spears and demand that she stop using exotic animals in her videos and concerts once and for all.

The exhibitors that provided the lions and elephants for the video, Steve Martin's Working Wildlife and Have Trunk Will Travel, respectively, both have long histories of exploiting animals.

In order to force elephants to perform silly tricks like those in the music video, trainers shock the animals with electric prods or gouge sharp, steel-tipped bullhooks into the most sensitive parts of the elephants' bodies. Gari and Kari Johnson, owners of Have Trunk Will Travel, have gone so far as to defend the use of cruel electric prods on elephants.

Steve Martin's Working Wildlife, which supplied the lions used in the video, has been cited repeatedly by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for failing to comply with the Animal Welfare Act, including failure to provide veterinary care, failure to provide shelter from the elements, failure to provide minimum space, and filthy cages. When animals are no longer useful to Martin, he has callously disposed of them by advertising in dubious animal-trade publications and by dumping them in menageries that pass themselves off as "sanctuaries."

"Britney may think her life is a circus, but for the animals who are whipped, chained, and beaten to perform under the real big top, the cruelty is very real," says PETA Director Debbie Leahy. "She may be headed for a comeback, but when it comes to animals, she still can't get her act together."

The video is below. Do you think PETA is making a mountain out of a mole hill or is Britney in the wrong for her use of animals in the video?